Menu

I cannot live without music. I am very eclectic in my taste in tunes, just as in every other category, so I will listen to just about any kind of music depending on my mood. I keep a notebook of the songs I like, and any time I write there is music playing. In fact, if you look through any of my writing, you will often find songs titles jotted in analog margins or notated digitally.

CONNECTED

Over the years, I have progressed from LPs to 45s to cassettes to CDs and, more recently, to internet radio.

When Pandora first emerged I geeked out. The idea of being able to create my own radio stations and share my music, even with the occasional ad, was fabulous. There were a few copycats showed up not long after that, but it wasn’t till my husband started using Grooveshark that I took notice.

Grooveshark has had its fair share of issues, but has still provided us with hours of listening for free. Unlike Pandora, though, it doesn’t suggest new music based on what our likes and dislikes are. That is something that has introduced us to some incredible music we would never have found otherwise, like Beats Antique.

PLAYLISTS

Anything listed below that has an actual song title next to it is on my current playlist. I may like some, all or none of the artist other than the ones listed, but I’ll leave that up to you to investigate.

Any serious writer knows that you have to make writing a daily practice. Daily. I cannot stress that enough. Writing requires effort, and good writing even more so.

I write all the time. Cheap, quad notebooks and my black, fine point .5mm gel pens are always with me. I make lists, doodle, jot down notes for story ideas, and sometimes pen a few serious pages of plot. But even I get caught up in the day-to-day and have to remind myself to get a word down at times.

Day One is my eight-ball in the corner pocket. I schedule it to pop up around lunchtime and make myself write a few words, even if it is crap, just to make it a habit. I don’t allow myself to skip or dismiss it, which takes discipline, even as simple as that sounds.

Please send me 72 hour days and a remote control that puts life on hold so I can take naps…

My daughter has started making her Christmas wish list early. For some odd reason a Toy Story ” Woody” doll is at the top of the list. We have no idea where the inspiration for it came from but she asked for it last year as well and we distracted her with the other shiny stuff on her list instead. a) because we couldn’t find one and b) she has too many dolls and stuffed animals as it is.

She and I have an agreement that predates all of it anyway: No more stuffed animals or toys until we go through her room and cull out all the other stuff that has accumulated. She was all for the idea when she found out she could get new stuff. LOL I told her I would take photos of her old stuff so she could keep the memory and there were going to be a few things that would end up being packed away for safe keeping; special gifts, like from her beloved great-grandmother who is now gone fall under that category.

I have gotten practical about Christmas, looking more for functional goodies for her more than for trinkets. She loves to paint and create so anything I can buy her to encourage that – canvas, colored pencils, papers – I try to pick up throughout the year. She still gets clothes, pretties for her hair, the occasional toy and doll but it isn’t over-running her room like it used to. Last year her father found her a lovely cedar chest off Craigslist so the rest of her animals are in there and not strewn around so that helped too.

One of my most treasured holiday memories was from when I was about 13. My cousin Sandy gave me an enormous box, huge, full of individually wrapped mini presents floating in a sea of shredded newspaper. I remember opening the box and the sheer joy of rummaging through it looking for treasure. I don’t remember everything in the box but I do remember getting the LP for the Fleetwood Mac Rumors album. Yup, dating myself.

The start of a new month and I am entering simplicity mode. My life has been stressful this year in both good and bad ways; thankfully more good than bad though the bad tends to tinge and taint your thoughts if you allow it.

This year has been one of opportunity and growth, deadlines and stresses, all moving in the right direction though so it makes the pill easier to take. Looking forward to seeing this month through with the completion of a lot of things, a “clearing of the plate” in some ways.

UPCOMING

Thank you for helping us make 2017 a fabulous year for practicing kindness and community support. 2018 is currently being scheduled and our 2nd year of “Watch movies. Do good.” will start back up in March 2018. Schedule TBA.